Fireworks in His Eyes, Frozen in Her One
by Terry Griffiths
Summary: The whole ordeal started with a dare. Then, she defeated him. And suddenly, he wasn't so bored anymore. Find out where the line blurs for this assassin though, when he begins to care for his "entertainment" a bit more than usual. Tempestuous and terrifying, this is the story of the Bloody Prince, and the lonely princess stuck in her tower.
1. Chapter 1: First Date

_On request, I decided to write a Chrome X Bel. Know you'll like it._

I won't go into depth about how it all happened, but somehow, it did. Somehow, Bel and Chrome were on a date together. I think of hot French-kissing and blood sacrifices when I think Bel – so how far can I get showing you the other sides of him? This one's third person, but I might switch later on.

_~ Yours, Terry_

1

He'd asked her out on a dare. It wasn't his fault that he'd lost a bet with Squalo and was forced to play Truth or Dare. Honestly, he had felt a bit ambitious lately. Like he could take on anything. If only he'd known that anything didn't include the violet-haired enigma he was going on a date with.

He wasn't by any definition, a deep person, but the girl he was taking out, that he was supposed to "treat like the princess to his prince," was definitely complicated, if not deep. She wasn't shallow, that was for sure. She wasn't a suck-up either. She was strong, but she wasn't. She was weak, but she wasn't. She spoke, but she didn't. A bundle of contradictory statements had to be used to describe her and it befuddled him. Why should he have to think about these things?

Why should he even uphold his promise? It wasn't like he owed Squalo anything. He would betray the world if it came down to it – why try to be honorable for something as petty as this?

He could just walk away. He should have just left. But he didn't. He had promised. With his own mouth, promised, "I won't double cross you on that bet, Squalo. I'll play this game fair and square."

He stayed.

And he took her to the ice cream store. Of all the places that he could have taken her, he took her to an ice cream store.

The awkward silence stretched between the two, like an ocean – vast and merciless. Belphegor of the Varia had no idea that just as Bel was dared to ask, Chrome Dokuro was dared to accept, by no one other than Rokudo Mukuro.

Chrome was nervous out of her mind. She was currently on a date with a member of the Varia. Sure, they'd helped them in the future, but… that Bel was different from this Bel, right? His hair had grown out a bit, making him look more like future Bel, but he was still the younger Belphegor. All that had changed was the haircut.

She'd heard many things about Belphegor. For one thing, he'd murdered his entire family, and her? She had nearly died to save a cat. Yeah, big difference. He was heartless, and she was so emotional – one day, she'd pay for it. Chrome just knew it.

"What was your name again?"

Belphegor's bored voice reached out into the silence and grasped her heart. It sounded whimsical, but not whimsical like Byakuran's laugh, which reminded her of carnivals and murderous clowns, but whimsical as in…as in…ice cream swirls. The perfect swirls on soft serve ice cream. If soft serve could talk, then it would probably sound like him.

Chrome's comparison may not have been the most conventional one, but it was the best description she could come up with after she heard his voice. Up close and outside of battle, he seemed dangerous, but not…not frightening. Kind of like a tattoo. When you saw it, you thought, "Oh that looks cool. It looks kind of painful. It makes the person look dangerous." It wasn't something that scared you though, to run the other direction.

"Chrome." She could only manage the one syllable in reply. In case, he didn't hear her the first time, she added, "It's Chrome."

He'd heard her the first time. It was fun to hear the peasant stumble though. Stumbling over her own name. Stumbling to answer his question. Stumbling for him. Stumbling to please him. Those were the things that he liked to see.

He never cared much for dating or love. Those were things for peasants. He was an assassin. A prince. They were nowhere near his level. And forget all of them, neither was she. This girl that he was going on a date with.

Currently, the two were seated in the ice cream store – it was high-end. If Belphegor had to take someone to some place, it wouldn't be some place cheap. Besides, he wasn't even using his own money. He was using the Varia's, and if Xanxus had a problem with that, all Bel would do was point towards Squalo and their bet, the Varia's idea of truth or dare, and then point at Luss and Xanxus, because it was them that had given Belphegor the dare.

Velvet carpets, soft chairs, and mahogany tables. The scent of new things that were old, but still smelled new. Boatloads of money. Elegantly dressed people. All of it, to be honest, annoyed him. But he wanted to make Xanxus eat his words. Make him go on a date with her? Her, of all people.

It couldn't just be any commoner; it had to be this one.

A waiter came up to the "couple" and asked, "May I take your order?"

Belphegor glanced at Chrome, a bit uncertainly. He'd asked her a question that he had already known the answer to – about her name – to see if she'd keep talking, provide entertainment, maybe? But she'd slowly spit out her answer, and then holed right back up again into herself. This was no fun at all.

Was he supposed to order for her?

He had no experience with dates at all. Why was he even trying this? It all came back to motivation, didn't it? Fear and love.

His fear of being bored. His love of being entertained. You could pick either one, and say that it was the reason that he had done everything that he had ever done in his life. Now, his fear of being bored propelled him to order for the girl.

Bel decided to judge her tastes by her hair color. It was violet – like raspberries, maybe? No, not raspberries. Those were some maroon. Her hair was the color of blackberries. And so, that's what he ordered. "We'll take two large sundaes – one raspberry sherbet and one caramel delight." Somehow, from a young age, Belphegor had developed a liking for caramel delight. It was a bit like his hair during the winter – darker. In a dream he once had as a child, his mother had called his hair the color of caramel.

Just once. But once was all it took. Ever since, he'd been obsessed with caramel ice cream. It was a secret obsession, but an obsession nevertheless. And caramel _delight_, because he delighted in making other people's decisions for them. He felt powerful. And okay, maybe all he'd done was order some ice cream…but still.

He felt powerful.

"B-Belphegor-san," Chrome began, her tiny voice interrupting Bel's thoughts.

"Hm?" Belphegor tried to sound bored. He really did. To be honest though, he was interested in what she had to say, since she was known to barely speak. Why would she break out of her cycle of boring silence?

"How did you know?" Chrome, on the other hand, wanted to think of her coming-out-of-the-shell as a miracle – her voice was listening to her! – but honestly? It was a nightmare. It wasn't listening to her. She didn't want to talk to this boy. She didn't want to ask any questions. She just wanted this whole thing to be over, so she could go home – wherever that was. Kokuyo? Tsuna's house if Ken and Chikusa weren't there? Somewhere on the streets?

Anywhere was better than the pressure she was feeling here. Anywhere.

Laughing his signature laugh, and aware of her obvious discomfort, decided to play on it. What would make this girl even more uncomfortable? Perhaps, touching? "How did I know what?" he asked, touching the tips of her fingers.

The reaction was instantaneous. Her hand flew back into her lap, off of the mahogany table. She had recoiled so quickly, it made Belphegor laugh again. "Ushishishishishi…why so scared? I'm not a wolf, I won't eat you."

Taking both her hands, he smiled widely, licking his lips, "I'm only a prince. Ushishi - I'll kill you."

He relished the slight widening of her eyes when he said this, and then flinch of her hands. She was afraid, and he was causing it. He loved how she was trying to be subtle about it – but he was holding her hands. And they were shaking.

Belphegor grinned. Perhaps this wouldn't be quite so boring after all.

That was the moment when the waiter returned. His timing was the worst – or at least, that was what Bel thought. He needed to let go of Chrome's shaking hands in order to have the ice cream set on the table. Reluctantly, he did just that. The waiter gave him a look. Bel glared daggers back at him, envisioning the real things stabbing through. That staff member…

That staff member would soon have to be replaced.

"How did you know raspberry ice cream was my favorite?" Chrome stared at her ice cream, unbelieving. Had someone told him about her preference? That was ridiculous though – no one in the Varia knew anything, and Belphegor himself had no interest in that.

This was not the question Bel had been imagining. He'd…he'd guessed right?

Something warm grasped the bottom of his heart and began to crawl its way up his throat. He swallowed it down. He would not recognize that emotion. It would die in the pit it had come up from.

"Lucky guess," Bel bit out a reply. He took the dainty spoon in the sundae and began to eat. The waiter had left their table, but Bel had his face memorized. Being the genius that he was, it didn't take that much time to do so. Leaning forward, he brushed his bangs back – just enough so that he could eat without having his eyes seen, but without having hair fall into his meal either.

"Do you want a pin?" Chrome inquired.

It was ridiculous, the amount of chaos that revealing his nationality would elicit. His eyes were a dead giveaway, which was one of the reasons why Belphegor of the Varia kept them covered. His hair didn't obscure his vision in the slightest, though. Thinking about this limitation made him a bit angry that he was held back by it though, so Bel ate his ice cream with a vengeance.

Chrome repeated her question, "Do you want a pin, Belphegor-san?"

Blinking, Bel glanced at her, surprised. "A pin?"

"For your hair," she explained. "I know that sometimes, it can be a bother. When I had long hair, it bothered me…" her voice trailed off when she realized that he probably didn't really care about any of what she was saying. "Anyway, so do you want one? You can eat comfortably then."

Bel inferred that the girl really didn't know much about him. Obviously, she didn't know what would happen if he revealed his eyes. It angered him a bit, actually. He was the Prince. Why didn't she know all about him?

Taking his silence for furiousness, Chrome frowned, "D-did I do something wrong?"

"Why don't you grow your hair out?" He didn't feel like explaining his limitation, so Bel decided to change the subject. "You've had it long before – I can tell, since the ends of your hair still look like they've been cut."

"You can see the ends of my hair? Even with all that hair in your eyes?"

"Clear as day," Bel boasted. "All it takes is practice." It wasn't until a couple seconds later that he realized that she'd avoided his question. Had it been on purpose? Bel decided to ask again, even though the task was beneath him. She was only a commoner after all. She could probably only say one thing at a time. "So – why don't you grow your hair out?"

Sifting through her raspberry sherbet sundae with a spoon, Chrome didn't meet his eyes. Of course, seeing as she couldn't see them…she wouldn't have met them either way, but…it was still nice to see her uncomfortable. Had Bel hit a nerve? Would the girl finally maybe show some emotion?

"I…I don't know," she squeaked, immediately stuffing her mouth with ice cream afterwards. She twitched, and Bel realized that the little mist illusionist had given herself a brain freeze. He remembered how he had discovered a way to cure that, when he was younger. It was, in part, because of his brother Rasiel, that he knew how to do it. Taking pity on the girl, Belphegor ordered her, "Take your mouth and close it. Line up all your front teeth as best as you can. Push hard on the roof of your mouth right behind your front teeth. Really hard. It'll help the freeze go away, or if not, definitely take off the bite."

She blinked and seemed to be doing as she was told. Seconds later, Chrome smiled, a little surprise in her expression, at the assassin. "Th-thank you."

It was the gratefulness in her tone that gave the Prince a fulfilled feeling.

As both of them continued to eat their ice cream, Bel realized that she had taken the easy way out of his question. Shaking his head, he continued to eat, ever so often, glancing up at the girl, wondering what exactly was going on in her head. What if she was having a conversation with that male lookalike of hers? Rokudo Mukuro. The greatest mist illusionist to live in the present. Even Mammon respected him.

It made Belphegor a bit irritated to think that his date's attention was being split between the both of them. Don't be fooled, he didn't actually think anything romantic of it – nothing jealous or anything like that, but he felt less powerful, and that was a problem. This weakling was making him feel like he wasn't being attended to. This commoner wasn't serving him.

Waving over a staff member, Belphegor inquired about the private rooms.

"We'll have one prepared for you in just ten minutes, sir," the worker replied graciously. Now, this member of the staff at this restaurant, Bel liked.

Across the table, Chrome listened curiously to the assassin's conversation with the man. Private room? For what? She had some vague idea of the fact that this date was forced on Belphegor, so why…why would he want to…what would he want to talk about in a private room?

_Maybe he doesn't want to talk_, came Rokudo Mukuro's capricious voice in her mind.

Her face went ashen, as pale as the vanilla ice cream mixed into the raspberry. All the color had drained from her face, and she didn't know what to expect anymore. Was she allowed to say no to Mukuro-sama's request for her to go with Belphegor on this date? No. Was she allowed to say no if Bel took her to one of the…"private rooms?"

She had no idea. And that's what scared her out of her mind.

Before ten minutes passed though, something happened that changed the course of Bel's and Chrome's date.

A certain someone arrived. Someone that Chrome had no acquaintance with, but Bel certainly did. An older brother that smiled at him as if Bel was the best thing that he'd seen in years.

Rasiel was here.

But he was supposed to be dead.

Who had resurrected him this time?

_I'll be honest. My goal was to finish their first date, but God, that took longer than expected. So I guess you'll just have to wait to see how exactly this continues. If you think Chrome's going to watch from the sidelines…think again._

_I'll tell you that much._

_~ Terry_


	2. Chapter 2: Radical First Impressions

**As promised, second chapter is here. Hope you like it. Because I definitely do – much better than the last one.**

**~ Yours, Terry**

**2**

The older version of Belphegor was no doubt Rasiel. Jill. Whatever you wanted to call him, it was the same person to Belphegor. The same fiend of a brother. No, not brother. They weren't related.

How was Rasiel even alive?

Byakuran was gone, so there was no one to resurrect him. Who had brought him back? Who could have possibly brought him –

"Belphegor-san?" Chrome's concerned eyes glanced at him, as if to make sure that he was alright, even though he knew that she was a fool if she cared. All commoners cared though – he was their prince. "Is everything alright?"

Without his knowing, Bel's face had transformed. Transformed into a mess of panic, disbelief, and sheer wonder. Even without seeing his eyes, one could tell. "That son of a…he couldn't have come back." Bel gritted his teeth. He had no Mammon and he had no Fran, but he also had no doubt that he could beat his brother – after all, underhanded tricks were his familiar backyard. All he had to hold him back was this deadweight with him. The girl.

Chrome's gaze shifted to the person that Belphegor was staring at, to the person that was staring right at the assassin with a ridiculous smile on his face. For a second, Chrome thought it was a smile of true happiness –

-Until it morphed to that of a sadist.

"Is that…is that someone you know?" Chrome asked, unable to think of anything else to say. All she wanted was this day to end. Why did anything have to happen? She didn't want conflict. She didn't want a battle. But by the look on Belphegor's face, that's exactly what he expected to happen.

Luckily for Bel, Chrome had indeed grown stronger after that trip to the future. After everything, she was much stronger, and she knew in an instant that the universe was not plotting against her to ruin her day. If she had to guess, she'd say it was a member of a Varia plotting to ruin Belphegor's day. Chrome felt indebted to the boy though, since he had helped her cure her brain freeze quickly.

Or surely, she would have felt like a brick of ice was being forced to hit her skull repetitively, chipping away at her brain, compressing it, squeezing it…or rather, freezing it.

Chrome decided to help him.

They would play along with this Varia member. She wondered exactly who was underneath the illusion of this Belphegor look-alike. Obviously, the mist Arcobaleno was the one that was creating this, but…she hadn't created the illusion separately – she had created it on top of someone else.

If she squinted…she could see…

"What are you doing?" Belphegor had been watching her intently for the past few minutes, his interest moving from the motionless Rasiel to the staring illusionist. "D'you know my brother?"

"Brother?" She squinted closer and gasped. No, that was no illusion. That boy, his brother, was really there. Rasiel was there. There was an illusion _somewhere_ though…where was it? "I don't know you're…" Her voice trailed off as the brother approached.

Rasiel's grin was malicious, and when he saw who Belphegor was seated next to, it turned murderous. "Don't tell me I came all this way just to have my attentions shared with _this_ pathetic excuse for an illusionist." His body was once behind Belphegor and then behind Chrome. Snaking his arm around her neck, within seconds, he had her in a hold that if broken incorrectly, could choke her.

Chrome wasn't worried though. After really concentrating, she had figured it out. It wasn't just one illusion she was looking at. It was…two. There was one on top, one on the bottom, and there was nothing else. This illusion was not real. There was no one underneath.

She knew better than to think that it couldn't do anything to her though. If Mammon was doing this, then the Arcobaleno had more than enough power to force her to believe in this, to force her to experience pain she was not supposed to be feeling. Why, though? Was it a prank?

Or maybe…a test? Was someone testing them?

Chrome had hypothesized that someone from the Varia was doing this…but maybe it was someone else? Wouldn't someone else have better reason to –?

Unless, Mammon was paid. If she was paid, she'd do anything.

"Why aren't you squeaking, mouse?" Rasiel hissed in her ear. Something sharp slit the back of her neck, and rivulets of blood began to gather around the wound. Rivulets. It was such a pretty word. Accompanied with blood, it was even more beautiful – at least to Belphegor and Rasiel. Both of them could appreciate the prettiness of words used to describe the gathering of blood.

Blood. That's what it was all about, wasn't it?

Chrome realized it in an instant. It wasn't beneath the Varia to test him like that. There was something crazy going on, and she had a vague idea of what it was.

The Bloody Prince. She was in the presence of the Bloody Prince. Of course!

"Stop," the young mist illusionist whispered, arriving at a revelation. "I know what you're planning to do, and it won't work."

Belphegor laughed, "Ushishishishi~ what exactly do you think my brother is planning to do?"

On one hand, he was angry. His brother was here. His idiot of a brother. His brother. His stupid brother. The one that was supposed to be dead, that couldn't stay dead, and couldn't wait to die.

On the other hand, seeing Chrome being more than a little brave in the face of such a terrifying person – because Rasiel was not someone who you'd want cutting your throat – was quite amusing indeed. Maybe there was method to the Varia's set-up. She was at least a little entertaini -

"This is not your brother," Chrome blurted, slowly reaching for the illusion's hair.

"What am I, then?" Rasiel jeered into the face of the girl and the blade bit harder into the back of her neck. Whatever he was using probably wasn't conventional. A pocketknife? It wasn't big enough to be one of the knives that Bel used. That much Chrome knew.

"Ushishi~ if he's not my brother, then who is he?" Belphegor, fortunately, had all of his wire traps ready the moment he entered the building. They had surrounded his brother and with a tug, he could have his head come off. Of course, his brother knew that, which was why he had the almost chokehold on Chrome's neck. If his head was cut off, that moment would be enough for his arms to tighten and the knife to cut off _her_ head.

Which Belphegor would have been A-Okay with, if not for the fact, that Chrome was the apple of Mukuro's eye. If he let her die, then he was done for. He had no illusions about that. Not even Mammon could protect him from that monster's wrath.

Chrome opened her mouth, and before she could even take a breath to speak, Rasiel was stuffing ice cream in her mouth, and within a minute's time, her brain had frozen. Luckily, she knew the trick to make it go away – thanks to her expectedly bipolar date. She couldn't find a better way to describe his hot-and-cold behavior. Unfortunately, she knew that Rasiel would just keep stuffing ice cream in her mouth, various food items, perhaps the glass, and maybe the knife in his hands, if she tried to talk. That illusion – or, in order words, whoever created that illusion – knew that she knew.

Belphegor took out his blades, one between each of his fingers, creating a claw of sorts.

Right now, he valued killing Jill over saving Chrome. He wanted to kill his brother so badly. It wasn't even worth it to care about Mukuro. He could screw himself. To care about some girl that was so –

Chrome shot Belphegor the bird, immediately grabbing his attention, and reinforcing his idea that saving Chrome was not nearly as important as killing Rasiel. Readying his knives, he was about to throw when he noticed that Chrome had done more than just shot him the bird when her hand had moved. She had tipped over her glass of (now) melted raspberry sherbet, and the liquid had spread over that expensive mahogany table.

Somehow, the restaurant had emptied, meaning…something more than what was happening before his eyes was going on. Belphegor blinked and held Rasiel's gaze, "Why are you here?" It was an effective time-waster, as he watched the small jerks of Chrome's hand as its fingers moved daintily across the spilled raspberry sundae.

Playing? No, she wouldn't be playing.

Writing.

I.

L.

I L.

L.

I L L.

U.

I L L U.

S.

S.

I.

I.

O.

O.

N.

N.

_Illusion_.

"…and that, my brother is why I am here."

Within an instant, Bel understood.

Before he was able to react to what he had processed, before Chrome was able to escape though, Rasiel grabbed Chrome's hand, slid a knife into it, and slashed at his brother, cutting his stomach much like it was made of paper. The deed was done.

It was a wonder how close to death you can brush, or how radical the turns of your destiny can take you from being completely safe in the hands of an illusion to perhaps being destroyed at the hands of your pseudo-date.

Blood blossomed along his formerly pristine, white shirt. Blossomed like a rose, and Chrome wanted to vomit. Belphegor stared down at his wound, and a horrifying leer made its way across his face, tugging at the ends of his mouth and pulling them until his sanity was questionable to whoever was watching. "It only makes sense that something as life-giving as blood would blossom into something beautiful when it is spilt, don't—"

Chrome's eyes grew wide in terror. She knew it. She knew they'd do this. She knew they would take advantage of the Bloody Prince's madness, somehow. He wasn't the same person in this state, was he? Mukuro-sama had told her a story once, about this boy, and his obsession with the spilling of his royal blood.

"—you—"

He went crazy, is what he told her. Because of his past, because of his royal blood, and his desire to keep his bloodline pure, and not waste a single drop of DNA…he went crazy.

"—know?"

He would murder the person who did it in cold blood, the consequences be dam'ed.

Throwing her head back, Chrome slammed into Rasiel's jaw, and threw the knife a bit aways before shoving him back. This was no time to keep quiet. Her handy-dandy extending trident flashed into her hands from her shoulder bag and was growing back to its original size before Rasiel even had a chance to recover. Or rather, Rasiel's creator.

She knew from when she'd been having a soft mind conversation with Mukuro-sama that the entire place was covered in Bel's wires. Could she use that? No, it wasn't any use. Only Bel could trigger those correctly.

Bel attacked her with his myriad of knives, throwing them onto the wires, and in that split second, she was cut up a bit, but she also saw the placement of the wires. The position was perfect, but could she use it now that she knew where they were?

"Belphegor-san!" Chrome cried out, when a blade whizzed past her face, grazing the higher part of her cheek. "Stop! An illusion just made me slash you! Stop!"

Serves to say, he didn't listen.

What could she do? What could she do? This was the part in every manga where the heroine sings a magical song that brings the prince back to this senses. Their princes were never bloody though, were they? This was the part where there was a kiss to break the spell. Chrome was Chrome though, so no go there.

Jumping out of the way of the next array of blades, Chrome's trident flashed as it swung down hard onto Belphegor's hand. He quickly flipped the direction of his knife though, and parried the blow. It was amazing how much strength was in that single knife – enough to take all of Chrome's body weight and blow it back – make her stagger in the other direction.

Rasiel had fully recovered now, and was watching in amusement as Bel continued to attack Chrome, his bloodlust out of control, and his mind clouded as all get out. "Belphegor! Don't you hear me? I'm not the one who attacked you!"

"Certainly seemed that way," he cackled his signature laugh in between his words.

"Remember! Illusion! I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N! Il-lu-si-on!"

It didn't jerk him out of the trance, but he did hesitate. And that one second was all Chrome needed, as she jumped to incapacitate him…or so she thought. She was wrong.

_Dead_ wrong.

The last-minute blade that he had pulled out of his sleeve was falling down and dropping quicker and quicker, straight towards her –

She grabbed the only thing she could reach and slammed it roughly into his face.

The caramel ice cream dribbled across his chin.

"Belphegor?" Chrome bit her lip and hoped that his favorite ice cream flavor would snap him out of it. She had read somewhere that most of the time, on dates, people ordered foods that they were already comfortable with, if they were unfamiliar with the person they were dating. The illusionist hoped with all her heart that the article was right. "Belphegor-san?"

The boy let out a breath – from anyone else, it should have been shaky - and the knife slipped back into his sleeve. "Well, that was fun."

The Bloody Prince flicked his hand, and at once, all of Bel's wires flew down on the illusion, slicing it up like a birthday cake. That amused Rasiel? Was no more. Belphegor smiled the entire time, feeling extremely proud of himself.

After it was done, he turned and reassessed Chrome Dokuro. She was crafty, she was so much more than he had originally gave her credit for, and right now? He needed to get home, and fix up the bleeding wounds. Have a talk with the obvious perpetrators of this whole ordeal. He wanted to fix his hair – vanity was precious. He wanted to put on a new shirt, throw this one away. He remembered what he had been waiting to do from before the illusion had appeared.

The private room he'd booked. The staff members were all magically vacated, as well as the paltry amount of other guests, so he inferred that he wouldn't be getting his room any time soon. With no one around, this was as good a time as any other to make sure – at least for the moment that he was with her – all she was thinking about was him.

Recovering from everything, Chrome was sprawled on one of the soft chairs that wasn't covered in shattered glass, blood, or knives. Knowing that she was resting and almost completely lowering her guard, he figured that now was the perfect time.

Striding up to her, he draped a hand over one side of her and boldly leaned forward, placing his fingers on the back of her neck to tilt her head forwa –

Wait. She had just flinched. He withdrew his hand, but stayed where he was. He had forgotten – Rasiel had pressed a knife to the back of her neck, hadn't he?

For a second, Belphegor of the Varia was completely, utterly torn.

He could do what he wanted to her…but right now, it wouldn't matter. She was in pain, tired, and…he could swear that she was just barely holding it all back. Once the adrenaline rush wore off, she would need to get all her wounds cleaned and bandaged.

Huffing softly, Belphegor gazed at Chrome's visible eye, traced the already healing scar on the top of her cheekbone, and told her, "Grow out your hair." Helping her up – or maybe, more accurately, dragging her up – he led her out the door, where Bel gave her a quick smile – something shy, usually unseen, a bit grateful? No, grateful was pushing it. But it was a millisecond smile that was definitely shy, and definitely something he didn't show everyone. "I'll give you a ride home."

Chrome had no idea what to expect. She definitely didn't expect an – was it an almost kiss? And she definitely didn't expect a withdrawal after that. Belphegor was just full of surprises. And…all of those surprises were good.

The motorcycle – A Kawasaki Ninja, as Belphegor proudly introduced it to her – was something she wasn't expecting too.

She didn't like fast things, but this fast thing did give her a ride home…so maybe it wasn't all that bad.

Belphegor had dropped her off at Tsunayoshi Sawada's house – no doubt because he felt…he felt strangely responsible for her wounds. Strangely because usually, he'd have no trouble hurting someone. She was just so _interesting_ though. Serves to say…

He wanted more.

The wayward teenager pressed the doorbell to Sawada's house, and then walked away, leaving Chrome to do the rest.

Chrome watched him, and an impulse suddenly gripped her heart. It was strange, this impulse. Kind of…like the instinct to refuse disappointment.

"B-Belphegor-san!" Chrome called out, her hands fisted at her sides. Her voice wasn't listening to her. Once again, her voice wasn't listening to her.

The assassin turned at the sound of the voice that was so small be so loud.

"Th-there's this…festival, next week. It's at…it's at my school, and…" This was definitely one of the hardest things that Chrome Dokuro had ever done in her entire life. The hardest thing that her rebellious voice had ever done. "Would you like to go with me?" Chrome's heart clenched, made its way through her throat, and her stomach flipped nervously.

Bel didn't wait. He continued following the path to his parked bike.

His back to her, he replied, "I'll pick you up at five. Don't make me wait."

**This festival will be the most stressful one that Chrome's ever gone to. Ever. And it's all because of him. Can you imagine? That's all I'll give you, but keep waiting, because I'm going to give you more!**

**~ Yours, Terry**


	3. Chapter 3: With Rapunzel

_This chapter is dedicated to Senpai, for whom I send best wishes too. You know who you are. Ganbatte, Senpai ~_

_As promised, I'm writing this in first person. Hopefully, you've noticed that Chrome may be shy, but that doesn't mean she's helpless, and I'm sure that she's the first person to use the method that she did to cut off his bloodlust._

_~ Yours, Terry_

CHROME 1st PERSON

I had decided on a decent-looking silk kimono. Once I bought it and showed Nana, she had told me that the proper term was "geisha kimono." It was simple – mostly black with a flower blooming from the corner and off the shoulders. No, the fact that it was the only kimono that I could afford with the money that I had (_don't even ask_ where I acquired the currency in questioin from), didn't influence my decision at all. The ribbons that tied the simple kimono together and the elegant silken sleeves that draped almost all the way to the ground though, was what seemed to catch the assassin's eye when he came to pick me up. He wasn't on his motorcycle this time. He had walked to Tsuna's house.

Why was I even here in the Boss' house? Because it was the most convenient meeting place. Kyoko and Haru helped me get ready, and Tsuna's mother – she was so sweet! – cooed over how beautiful I looked, and gave me pointers to follow through the night, considering that this was my first real, _real_ date. Bianchi advised me on certain things that would get me sick if I ate them, and it felt like…it felt like I was a part of something. They all worked together to fix my hair into a tight up-do that took hours. Contrary to popular belief, my hair grew very quickly – and I had to cut it every so often to keep it the way that I wanted. After Belphegor's request though…I had timidly grown it out.

And even if this is going to make me sound like a hippie, I loved it. My Family was with me – and I felt closer to them, doing something so mundane like getting ready for a date.

Boosu stumbled over his own feet trying to grab everything we told him to from various places to help me look, as Nana claimed, "like a doll." Gokudera-kun, on Bianchi's request, obtained a camera to take pictures. And last but not least, Yamamoto-kun looked after the children – Lambo, I-Pin, and Fuuta, entertaining them with stories and games of all kinds. Their efforts was what made warmth bloom in my chest, and confidence fill me – I felt like I could do anything, with their support.

Despite the identity of who exactly my date was, they all wanted this first date experience to be a good one. My Family wanted this first date to go well. And that in itself, was a great start to my evening.

"Belphegor-san!" I had to admit that my wave to him may have been a bit off-putting, but I was excited. I just couldn't help myself.

"Tch," I couldn't see his eyes, but I imagined that they were rolling at my display. "I'm regretting this decision already. Why am I here again?" Yawning, he held out his hand to me – a movement contradictory to his words. In his hand was a crushed violet. "Picked it up off the street. Thought a commoner like you might want it."

I took his gracious gift, and smiled softly when I saw that there was a small sticker stuck to the stem, that someone had attempted to rip off – "Varia Quality Flower Shop?"

Belphegor froze.

"You guys have a flower shop?" I hid a smile when I saw that my date had not expected me to notice that.

What I realized was that I hid my smile too late. "Don't laugh at me, peasant!" he hissed, his face reddening just a bit. Before I could apologize, he snatched the violet from my loose grasp, crumpled it up into a ball, and chucked it into the night.

Stunned into silence, I blinked at him, like a deer in headlights.

Had I hurt his ego? I hadn't meant to make him feel bad… Shaking my head, I choked out an apology as Belphegor started walking in the direction of my school (he seemed to have done his research…). "Belphegor-san, I'm sorry!"

He didn't stop. He only began to walk faster, and no part of him reacted to what she had said.

Determined to win his favor, I struggled in my kimono to catch up with him. Once I was close enough, I repeated myself, "Belphegor-san, I'm _really_ sorry!"

His strides grew longer.

"I'm sorry I hurt you! Belphegor-san, I'm so sorr –"

He stopped. "Ushishishishi~ Who said that you hurt me?" His voice rose in volume, when I didn't respond, "Ushishishi~ did you hear my question, peasant?"

I frowned and he pressed forward, stalking towards me. "Who _said_ that you hurt me?"

"No one," I replied firmly. "But whatever I did, I'm sorry, then."

I held contact with the area where I thought his eyes were. That was a sign of strength, and somehow, I knew that Belphegor didn't quite yet stomach exactly how strong I was. Obviously, I had hurt his ego. Being as sensitive as I was, I wasn't oblivious to the emotions of others, and definitely not when they were projected as loud as Belphegor was projecting his. He was a bit like Lambo, in a way.

Huffing, the Bloody Prince frowned, "…fine. You are forgiven."

I let out a breath. "Thank you. Now, my school isn't much fa –"

"I know."

It was incredible how much those two affirmative words shook my core. The fact that Belphegor had actually done his research, taken time to learn the address of where we were going…it kind of amazed me. In a good way.

Was there more to this boy than I had originally thought?

Studying the back of him, I realized that in his own way, he had dressed up, wearing a black blazer on top of a red shirt and dark jeans, his signature tiara in its place. Coming up from behind him, I felt unsettled to walk in step with him – it felt strange, and foreign to me – so I began to walk faster than him, so that he was behind me.

After about two minutes of walking in complete silence, the festival lights appeared against the palette of dark created by the sky. It was only about 5:30 PM, but the sky didn't cease darkening.

Suddenly, I felt a tug at my back. I turned and saw the assassin enamored by the ribbon at the back of my kimono. He was tugging at it. If I commented on his actions though, like before, I was sure that he would take it the wrong way – as if I were trying to hurt his ego. So I stifled a laugh and stayed quiet, as I walked.

When we arrived at the festival, my classmates could be plainly seen manning certain stations and selling food. Some were out and about, and the moment we entered though…a bunch of them came running up to me. All of them, I'd never talked to before in my entire life. And they all approached me at once, when I entered the premises.

Lights floated all around, paper lanterns, and snowflakes. It was a festival that the classes had come together to create, and we all agreed that it should be themed winter. Well, they all agreed. I wasn't particularly paying attention until the student representatives called my name. Speaking of student representatives, it was too early in the year for elections, but I had been dabbling with the aspect of becoming one…

THIRD PERSON INTERLUDE

"Chrome Dokuro?" one of the girls gave Chrome a quick glance. Shaking their heads, some giggling, their eyes passing right over her, straight to Belphegor.

"Who's this?" One of the bolder students asked her, as if she wouldn't care.

But…there was something icky in her heart that compelled her to say his name, "His name is Belphegor." It was something that told her: He's only going out with you because he's bored. He doesn't really like you. Are you delusional? He's an assassin. You're just…you. Don't think anything of his actions. They don't mean a thing.

_Icky thing, I dub you Insecurity._

Her palms were clammy now, and her geisha kimono's long sleeves didn't help the matter. She just wanted to rub her sweaty palms on them. Truth is, she wanted the assassin to be hers for the night. She had the right to be possessive of her date, right? No matter who it was!

She was just so afraid of those…girls.

And as those seemingly love-struck girls saw Belphegor and began to flock to him like vultures to dead meat…

Chrome felt strangely protective. But she didn't say a thing.

If there was any courage left in her, any energy to have courage, it had vanished with the next words out of Belphegor's mouth – they kicked into her like soccer balls to a goal: "Finally, something entertainment worth my time."

**BELPHEGOR 1****st**** PERSON**

The deflation in my date was instantaneous. The sway I had on her showed in a matter of moments. And I felt powerful because of it. There was a small part of me that dropped though, the moment I saw that enthusiasm – that had led her to wave at _me_ of all people – drain out of her like water from the clouds when it rained. She didn't seem angry – her face had understanding written on it.

Somehow, that was worse.

It made me feel…_guilty_.

And I couldn't handle the powerlessness that came with that feeling. I needed to do something for Chrome – cheer her up again. I wanted to have sway over her emotions, but…

"Hey, what school do you go to?" one of the older girls asked me. I stared down at her, fascinated at the boldness of the girls here. They were nothing like my date. Just waiting to throw themselves. It was pathetic. Their eyes had passed right over Chrome, as if they hadn't seen her, and I had bitten my lip. Honestly? I felt a little protective of the girl. Just a little, but…still…ever since the "Caramel Ice Cream Incident" as I had dubbed it…I felt a little protective.

"One that you probably won't get into," I grinned at them, determined to make things right. I felt weird thinking that I'd done anything wrong, but…it felt wrong. So it must have been wrong. I never cared about my moral compass before though, so… I chalked it up to the festive spirit. Just this once, I told myself. Just this once, I'll be…kind. "Ushishishishi~ why don't you all just go and waste someone else's time?"

This should have been off-putting to them, but more flocked my way. Was I a "type" or something?

There was only one thing to do.

"I will kill you all," I told them frankly, blades appearing in my hands in milliseconds. "_Go away_. Or I will slit your throats in your sleep."

Be the assassin.

Be Belphegor of the Varia.

Go, Bel.

Channel that inner psychomaniac.

Serves to say, that paired with a more wicked version of my laugh, and a leer at each one of them personally, that speech did the trick. They all scampered away like gazelles – knowing that they were not predators. Those girls could not _hunt_ me for their future dates. They were prey, and now, they knew it.

It took me a couple to register that Chrome was staring at me in awe.

"W-why did you do that? I thought…I thought you said they were entertaining…?" Chrome blinked at me, her small voice difficult to hear in the crashing sounds of the festivities going on around us.

At first, I was embarrassed that she was bringing it up, like she'd brought up the flower shop label before, but I realized that I had nothing to worry about. I was a member of the Varia. I would not lose face to some girl. Even if she was my date. Grinning at her, I yelled, "Sometimes, people are most entertaining when they're running away from you."

She smiled at me, and that part of me that had dropped before was floating.

The heck was wrong with me?

Huffing, I began walking towards one of the food stands. Maybe the problem was that I was hungry. Checking my pockets, I found all my credit cards lined up, and asked the lady at the register, "Do you accept credit cards?"

"…no. This is a school festival, pretty boy." She smirked at me, arrogantly. How could someone even do that in a hair net!? "We're not going to get the fancy swipers because people are too lazy to get money and pay in cash."

My blades were into my fingers before I could stop them and I raised my hand, ready to throw them at the lady –

A featherlight touch on my arm. I turned to see Chrome. Her hand tightened on my arm and I realized she was holding back the arm that I was throwing with. She was holding me back.

"I'll pay for you. Please? It's the least I can do, after dragging you here of all places." Chrome seemed embarrassed about earlier. What was she embarrassed about? The fact that she'd handed me over on a silver platter to those girls? The girl was right to be embarrassed. She could face an assassin with a bloodlust at a high-end restaurant, but she couldn't face a bunch of airhead classmates with an addiction for sexy people at a school festival. What an enigma, this girl was.

I nodded at her. If she wanted to pay…I'd let her pay.

"Get me one of everything," I smiled angelically at Chrome, but she seemed prepared for my response.

"Make that two."

We ate in a clearing a bit aways in the forest behind the school.

My head cleared a bit after filling my stomach, and I felt confident. I didn't understand my earlier behavior. I shouldn't be changing for her; she should be changing for me.

"Hey Chrome," I called her name and instantly, her attention was mine. Obviously, I wasn't sharing her today with Rokudo Mukuro. Or if I was, then my beck and call was more important. It frustrated me that I didn't know. "Do you know why those girls glanced right past you as if you were worth nothing when they were checking for competition earlier?"

She flinched as she digested what I had said.

I sat down beside the illusionist, shoulder to shoulder, and was impressed at the fact that she didn't react. She was steeling herself. I could tell. Turning my body to face her, I laughed, "Ushishishishishi~ it's simple really." I was in a good mood. Food put me in a good mood, and that stand had pretty good food for a commoner joint. "If I'm the Prince, then being my date, you must be the Princess, if just for this one night…"

With one swift motion, I undid Chrome's hair, and it tumbled down her shoulders in waves, each lock a different shade of violet in the moonlight.

"…so, Rapunzel, Rapunzel – let down your hair."

_Hope you enjoyed it!_

_~ Yours, Terry_


	4. Chapter 4: Clovers and Confessions

**This chapter is dedicated to my favorite Bel roleplayer. Thanks for all the inspiration. And I'm sorry if I ticked you off earlier. Our opinions may differ on whether Bel wears a tiara or a crown, but…I hope we stay friends for forever and a day. Forgive me? ~ Yours, Terry **

**4 **

**Belphegor**

The rest of the night went almost normally. After my display of…affection? I suppose, after my display of affection, Chrome's excitement had upped about a million times. It made me happy to see that. And since there was no one to notice me, I allowed the small smile onto my face for a split second.

It made me wonder a bit. While Chrome was buying one of the cute fans that a vendor was selling at the festival, I thought about why I was here. I was here to have fun, because I was bored before – obviously, that was the main reason. I also found her interesting. I wanted to figure her out. It was funny, because I had never been into puzzles before in my life. Maybe I would have been if my childhood hadn't been…well, you know. But now, it seemed I had a unique fondness for human puzzles.

The question though, was: Why was Chrome here?

I was an assassin, of all things. I knew some girls liked bad boys, but was she really one of them? And as for my being a prince…she didn't seem like someone who took everything at face value. Was the girl going after me because I was her type? How did that even make sense? Was I even a _type_?

I was sure some people thought of me as psychotic…so it didn't seem like I would be "a type."

Chrome returned to my side with a fan of her choosing, she grinned openly, "Where to next, Belphegor-san?"

"Why are you here?" I asked her, bluntly, my mouth set in a straight line.

She blinked at me, a bit taken back by my question, "Because…this is my school's festival? I-If you want, we can go somewhere else…"

"No – I mean, why are you _here_? With _me_?" Part of me really wanted to believe all the time, that I was just that impressive of a person to be with. Honestly, though? I knew that a girl as nice as her couldn't just want to be with me at this moment in time here of all places, just because of my great personality, my princely status, my beyond gorgeous looks, my never-ending supply of money, or my ridiculously badass ride.

There had to be another reason. Some amazing quality in myself that I wasn't seeing.

And I was curious to find that out.

Of all things that I'd expect to happen then, what actually happened was something that I would not have expected – but it was a pleasant surprise, something that made me feel warm, and wonder, "I have the power to make her do that?"

If it was any other person but her, I wouldn't have been as astonished.

Chrome Dokuro was blushing.

I had heard that her and Rokudo Mukuro had a thing. Were an item? Well, something like that. Along those lines. Seeing this though, made me feel…like they weren't. Maybe Mukuro made her blush. And now, so did I?

The realization…unexpectedly…made my face feel a bit hotter, but when I glanced at a nearby mirror, I saw that thankfully, I wasn't blushing. I was Belphegor – an assassin of the Varia, whose name was that of a demon's, and I did not blush.

"Come on," Chrome took my hand suddenly, without answering my question, and pulled me into a nearby tent. Inside the tent was a myriad of mirrors – tall, short, from all sorts of places, and all facing towards us? Was this one of those freaky mirror places?

As we kept walking inside, I knew that is was. I saw myself tall, and skinny, and short, and fat. The mirrors messed up my image, and I was getting a bit irritated.

"Why do they even have a hall of mirrors at a school festival?" I snarled into the continuous array of mirrors. The agitation was in my voice, and I was ready to smash one of those mirrors by the time my date decided to open her mouth again.

"You asked me why I was here, right? So…I didn't want to say it out there," Chrome began, waving vaguely towards the entrance to the hall of mirrors.

"I'm here because…because I'm…you are…you fascinate me."

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "You're dangerous, but you're not scary. Your bloodlust and your obsession with caramel ice cream are equal to each other. You threaten me with your touches, but you teach me the trick to cure brain freeze. You know my favorite ice cream flavor without me having ever told you – is it just luck? Or is there some kind of logic behind how you guessed?"

She paused, and glanced at me, as if to gauge my reaction.

Seeing my back to her, she pressed on, "And then, at the end of all that excitement, you were going to kiss me, but you didn't because I was hurt. I just know it, even if you deny it, I know that's why you stopped. You even gave me a ride home, and agreed to go somewhere with me again, even if the first time, we didn't really have a party. You even brought me a flower this time around. You fascinate me, and I want to get to know you better. Not just the parts that are assassin or prince…but the other ones too."

Her gaze was on the floor now, and by the time she was done, she was breathing a bit heavier than usual, as if she'd managed to say everything she needed to in one breath. In fact, that's probably what she had done.

When I didn't reply, she called out, "Belphegor-san?" questioningly. Her hand was on my back and before I knew it, I was yelling.

"That's – that's enough! You can…just _shut up_ now!" My face was pressed into the palm of my hand because earlier, I had seen my face turning a shade darker with every sentence that had come out of Chrome Dokuro's mouth – you know, in all those mirrors?

There was a reason that my back was to her.

If I hadn't been blushing before, then I was definitely blushing now.

If I was named after a demon, and she was making _me_ of all people blush, then what in the world was _she_?

I had to change the subject, somehow. Turn it back to her. Belphegor did not get flustered. And when he did, he didn't let anyone see it. Unfortunately, the place was filled with _mirrors_. Of all things, mirrors. And I knew that she could see me.

She knew she had the upper hand.

How did I even let this happen?

"Why did you need to pull me here to talk to me about this? Why did you pull me here to answer my question?" I demanded, trying hard to get the bite out of my voice, but failing miserably.

She was silent first. Chrome's face was in sight and I watched her through the mirrors.

"Well…" she started. "What if…what if you didn't hear me? And I had to repeat myself?"

My eyes widened, and I tilted my head, an easy smirk appearing on my face. The way back to being on top was mine. "Repeat yourself?"

"Yeah…it's not like…it's not like I'm comfortable…admitting all that. It's _embarrassing_."

That's when I began to laugh.

And for the first time, it wasn't the standard "Ushishishishishi~" it was an actual laugh, something that a regular person might have done…and it sounded…_right_. Even if it wasn't the laugh I was used to, it sounded like something that was _meant_ to be coming out of _my_ mouth.

I didn't feel anyone else in the room, so I decided to let loose a little, and tossed Chrome a mischievous grin, worthy of the Unseelie Court's most rowdy faeries, before pushing her against one of the tall mirrors, trapping her in place with my arms.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think you're pretty _weird_ yourself," I told Chrome, my face inches away from hers. Her easy breaths had turned into shudders, and I could tell that she was struggling not to shiver. I moved in a little closer, so she couldn't move even if she wanted to, and whispered, "Don't worry, though. I think I'm going to go ahead and kiss you anyway."

My lips were inches from hers.

And then, we were interrupted.

"Well, well, well – what do we have here?" Lussuria's high-pitched croon cooed through the hall of mirrors, and it took no more than a millisecond for me to get irritated. I groaned softly before extricating myself from Chrome.

Fran's deadpan voice. Even as a kid, he was…unbearable. "Were we interrupting something?"

"…does Xanxus approve of this?" came Levi's annoying tone.

Chrome bit her lip, as she recognized the chattering. She looked like she wanted to hide. "Belphegor-san…? You didn't…?"

"I didn't, what?" I hissed.

"You didn't invite them, did you?"

"No. I didn't. Why in the world would I invite them!?"

"Well…they're your friends."

"No, they're not, now –"

"We're not…?" Lussuria looked heartbroken as he pranced over to me and began pulling my cheeks. I was ready to stab him. My knives were coming out. They were coming –

"I-I'm Chrome Dokuro. Nice to meet you."

Why was my date effing introducing herself to these losers?!

No.

Effing.

Way.

"Oh! You're so cute! I love girls like you!" Lussuria was gushing over my date. Why were these guys even here? Chrome looked a bit frightened at Lussuria's familiarity.

"Why are you guys even here?" I groaned again, rubbing the back of my head.

"You're not happy to see us, Senpai?" came Fran's voice.

I chucked a knife at his head. Even as a kid. Even as a kid. He was so effing annoying.

"VOOOOOOIIIIIIIIII! WE CAME ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE FOR YOU AND YOU'RE LOLLYGAGGING WITH YOUR LITTLE GIRLFRIEND!? YOU TOLD US YOU WERE KILLING THE TARGET!" Obviously, that was Squalo. Anyone within a fifty mile radius could hear.

The Varia was here. If Squalo was here, then that meant –

"What are you up to, scum?" Xanxus growled. The boss. My palm came to slam my face before I even knew it.

At this point, attempting to continue this date was futile.

It wouldn't be done. The Fates were plotting against us.

Suddenly, Mammon's head was butting up to my hand. I looked down to see her casually tossing something into my hands and then, disappearing. When I looked back to where the others were, I saw that they were…leaving? What?

Chrome's attention was all on them.

As Squalo left (he was the last one), he called back to me, "VOOOOIIIII! YOU BETTER BE GLAD WE CAME TO SAVE YOUR SORRY BUTT, YOU SON OF A GUN. WE GAVE YOU A LITTLE LUCK THERE BECAUSE WE THOUGHT YOU MIGHT NEED IT, LITTLE EFFER. ALWAYS MESSING THINGS UP."

I had no idea what he was talking about until I glanced down at my hand and saw a tiny bouquet of violet-colored four-leafed clovers, the size of the violet from before…then, I got a pretty good idea of the kind of "luck" they were giving me.

And despite everything, I did appreciate it. Maybe. Just a little.

"Wh-what was that all about?" Chrome inquired as I lead her out of the hall of mirrors.

I allowed myself a quick, small, secret smile. "Nothing at all. It's getting late. Should I take you home now?"

Chrome glanced at the sky and grinned, "I didn't even notice. But yeah…let's go back to Tsuna's house."

This time, when we were walking, she fell into step beside me.

And when we parted, I tucked the violet clover bouquet behind her ear and before she could turn around to thank me, disappeared.

**See, guys? Bel doesn't need a killer ending line to leave Chrome thinking about him. He can just do something like this. I never expected the Varia to be so helpful though. Let's see. All I'm going to say about the next chapter is this: desperate times call for desperate measures.**

**~ Yours, Terry**

**p.s. Bel, Senpai, I'm sorry I took so long. ^^**


	5. Chapter 5: Inner Turmoil

**This chapter, you get into Chrome's confused head. And really remember that guys, she's only around 13 – 14 years old. Not experienced at all. Have fun. This was definitely amusing to write.**

**~ Yours, Terry**

**5**

**CHROME**

I couldn't stop thinking about him.

So maybe, the things that I had said were embarrassing for me to admit. Mukuro-sama, who had been popping in and out of my head the entire day, was not letting me live it down. Teasingly, he'd ask me if my clovers were doing well or not – which they were.

I still felt like every single word I had spoken that night had been truthful. I sounded like so psycho scientist – "You fascinate me." – But it was true. That's all I _could_ say to him.

He fascinated me.

Translation: I liked him. A lot.

If love was what I was hypothesizing on, then he was my test subject. It had been totally coincidental, the way that we had met, but…maybe I could study that too. Study the statistical probability of someone like _me_ falling in love with someone like _him_?

_Not_ that I was in love with him yet.

_Not_ that I thought I'd be falling in love with him any time in the future.

My face grew a brighter and brighter shade of red as I stood at the grocery store thinking about this, my hand halfway to the Brussels sprouts that I was thinking of picking up for dinner at Tsuna's house. I was running errands for Nana. Body frozen, I wasn't even blinking, but I could tell by the heat in my cheeks that I was blushing.

Anyone who was watching me might have thought I was having a heart attack or something, the way that my arm started shaking when I'd had it held up for too long.

Someone swore beside me, and I snapped out of my trance.

My face reddened even more when I saw who it was that was doing the swearing.

"Dam* it all! Why do I – the prince – have to get sent on errands like this!?" Belphegor's annoyed voice shattered the silence that was surrounding me. "I am a prince! Squalo should do it. Luss should do it. They actually know what half this stuff is!"

He crumpled something up and threw it down, stomping all over it.

It was a bit comical, actually.

I'd never tell him that though. I wasn't _suicidal_.

Walking over to the crumpled piece of paper – which I inferred was a list of some sort – I bent down to pick it up. Smoothing it out in my hands, I realized that my inference had indeed been right. This was a grocery list.

"Chrome?" Belphegor's voice came incredulously, as if he were surprised he'd find an actual commoner that he knew shopping from the same grocery store as him.

I would think that he would feel disgraced, but he only looked a bit surprised.

Or at least, that's what I thought.

I usually read people by their eyes, and I couldn't see his.

It frightened me a bit, to think about it like that, though. I preferred to think of it as his eyes not wanting to be seen versus my being unable to see them.

Just a different take on things, I suppose.

Someone had told me that my stuttering was very annoying, so I'd been trying to rid my voice of it lately. When I replied to Belphegor while scanning over the grocery list, I made sure to sound confident, "Belphegor, do you need help with this?"

"Ushishishishishi~ who do you think you're talking to? I'm the prince. I don't need help with anything."

Understanding what he was really saying, I quickly switched strategies and reworded my question, "Belphegor, I'm only trying to serve you. Because you're a prince, and all."

Ego wasn't a problem at all for me.

What did I have to be egotistical about? I was nothing to brag about, and if I were to brag about anyone, it would be my Family, not myself. My friends. My allies.

Not my beauty. Because, honestly – what beauty?

Not my status. Because, once again – what status?

Not my power. Because, I was still growing.

Hence, I basically had no ego to contest anyone with.

Ego was synonymous with character, with personality, in the thesaurus, and personally, I didn't think I had any of that. I was just…a cardboard cutout. I would be nothing without Mukuro-sama. Nothing without my friends, my Family, but not my family.

What blood running through my veins actually meant anything? To anyone? To me?

There didn't seem to be any Nagi to contest with. There didn't seem to be any Chrome. All Chrome was, was an apparition of other people. A mishmash. A hodgepodge. A poorly built robot. What was I? _Who was I?_

Could I answer those questions with the name Chrome confidently, and know what I meant?

The answer was no.

I couldn't. Because the title meant nothing. If someone asked me, "Who is Chrome?" I wouldn't be able to answer.

Chrome is Mukuro-sama's vessel, Mukuro-sama's _vassal_, the Tenth Vongola Boss' _friend_, his _guardian_, Sasagawa Kyoko's _friend_, Miura Haru's _friend_.

Her definition was other people. She was defined by the relationships she had with other people, and if someone I cared about asked me to change, I sure as heck would, because – I'm no one better.

It was one of the reasons that I had a small hope in my heart that somehow, _this_ would work. At this point, I didn't particularly care what Belphegor of the Varia thought of me as long as it was something good. Anything good. The fact that I was able to step down from whatever pedestal he thought I might've been on, was definitely good, right?

At least for a headstrong assassin like him. Maybe somehow, the fact that I couldn't get him off my mind was a good thing. Wasn't there something good about all of this? There had to be. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it wasn't my fault. Maybe there was no way to have this not happen. No way to avoid it. Just look at the positive side of things, Chrome.

It couldn't just all _not work_.

Something that a member of the Varia wouldn't be able to do – get off their high horse – was something I could do. And if Belphegor could recognize in me that he could count on me to do something only I could do, then…what if? What if my caring for him wasn't all crazy?

What if I actually had a chance?

I shook my head. What was _wrong_ with me?

Belphegor grinned, "Then…in that case, you better get all these items, _servant_." He seemed to want to taunt my act of adapting to the situation.

"Was someone trying to make curry?" I asked him, reading the list. Most of them were spices, and there was a pinch of chocolate, which made me question my inference, but…all in all, it seemed like someone wanted to make curry.

"…I don't know. We could just hire a cook and kill him later, but no…Xanxus doesn't want us to waste money. Since when did he turn into an effing Mammon? We have enough of those! So I think, Squalo's cooking or something." Belphegor was fuming now, throwing his signature "ushishishi~" in between words when it seemed like was ranting.

Anyone who was listening would have thought that Belphegor had a screw loose or something, which wasn't far from the truth.

I blinked when Belphegor so casually brought up killing the cook. Of course, he was a part of the Mafia. He was an assassin. He could kill everyone in the store if he wanted.

It was just…kind of easy to forget that.

After some of things I'd seen. After some of the places I'd been with him. It wasn't all my fault, was it?

No, Chrome, I told myself. Don't do it. What you have to do is convince yourself to not fall for this person. That would be worst decision you'd ever make in your entire li –

Belphegor touched my arm. "Well? Are you going to get to it?"

I was a lost cause.

What was wrong with me? Why did I keep picturing Belphegor as an actual prince? As if he was some tortured hero? I was a romantic, a hopeless romantic. I would get hurt in this, I just knew it.

Taking a painful step away from Belphegor with the inner war waging within me, I smiled, "I am. Come on." Boldly taking his hand, I led him to the spices section of the grocery store, completely forgetting about my own list.

We began to pick out the ingredients – the paprika, the basil. All of them.

I had made curry for Tsuna and the others in the future, along with Haru and Kyoko, I remembered. I'd never made curry like this before though. There was chocolate in it. Why was there chocolate in curry?

Lost in my own thoughts as I took each of the ingredients off of their respective shelves and handed them to a stunned Belphegor, I absentmindedly selected the right things.

"Hey, hey, are you even paying attention?" Belphegor asked, angrily. "If you get the wrong stuff…" his anger seemed to transform into something else. "…I'm going to have to _punish_ you."

He was teasing. Obviously.

"You insult me," I replied, trying one of those hair flips with my newly grown hair. "Look. I did get all the right stuff."

Belphegor took a second to check what I had given him and then frowned, "But…you did it so quickly."

"Perks of being me, I guess," I shrugged, brushing my hair to behind my shoulder as I bent down to pick up some fallen things. My hair flip hadn't worked. I was a bit out of practice. "I can multi-task well."

"I heard you were terrible at that." Belphegor said back to me, offhandedly. He seemed a bit irritated. Was it because I was good at something? That maybe he wasn't?

I didn't know the extent of Belphegor's ego, but I hoped that it didn't stretch that far.

"Who told you that?" I inquired mildly, gathering everything we'd picked up into a bag and carrying it into the seventh isle from us. Belphegor lazily followed, his feet dragging a bit. He didn't seem tired, just unwilling.

"Mammon did," he answered. Moments later, I felt fingers at the back of my neck and nearly shrieked.

"What are you doing?" I nearly hissed. "And why would Mammon know anything about me?"

"Well, the baby noticed from that one battle. You didn't seem to be concentrating very well during that one, apparently, so that's the conclusion that was drawn." Belphegor's fingers were still on my neck. I shuddered.

I guessed that the battle he was referring to was the one when I first met my Family members. When I was first introduced. On my own, I hadn't done very well then. So of course, that's the kind of conclusion that the mist Arcobaleno would have drawn.

I had grown from that point.

I wouldn't defend myself though – it wasn't in my nature. I wouldn't bother contradicting Mammon.

After finishing Belphegor's list, I turned around and realized that he was no long with me. I hadn't even noticed his fingers leaving the back of my neck. Sighing, I told myself I was hopeless and continued to checkout. I was sure that he would pay me back, wouldn't he? If I bought it for him.

Even fake princes had to have a code of honor.

I was trying so hard not to think about possible feelings. _Think about anything but, Chrome_. _Anything but that_.

Buying all the things Belphegor needed, I waited for him by the store entrance, knowing that at some point, he would come. He had to leave the place, right? And it was a grocery store, of all things. I wouldn't imagine that he'd want to _stay_ here.

I felt an arm around my waist, propelling me out, and flinched, but continued walking. We didn't need to draw attention to ourselves. My eye was twitching underneath the eye patch. "Belphegor…"

His smile was wicked.

"Chrome," he spoke evenly. "Ushishishishi~ you should see the look on your face. Most girls would _die_ in this position."

I knew he meant it literally.

"What took you so long?" I asked softly.

"Hmm? Just looking at some…um, cookies." His lie was so clear, it was ridiculous. I wondered where he had really been. _Off killing? Kidnapping? Stalking? Murdering?_ I tried to keep my thoughts away from the worst assumption – _had he been flirting?_

Did he even do stuff like that? I could see him doing it to have _fun_, but… I shook my head. No. It was better to think that he was off killing someone in their sleep, and drinking their morning coffee. For some reason, that felt more _acceptable_.

"Ushishishishishi~ Why? Are you afraid I was off with some girl other than you?"

I jumped about twenty feet into the air. He had been spot on. What the heck!? Was I that…transparent? My face reddened.

Belphegor continued, "Who wouldn't want me all to themselves?"

I let out a breath. He didn't actually know. Relieved, I allowed myself a small smile. The entire situation was hilarious, if seen from a third person perspective, but for now, Belphegor seemed to be walking me home (Tsuna's house, to be exact) and I couldn't have been more happy to see him that day, after all that time.

Despite everything.

What was _wrong_ with me? Maybe this was just a huge infatuation.

Could I blame hormones and be done with it?

Sighing helplessly, I looked up to see that Belphegor had stopped walking. "Why'd you stop…?"

"Because we're here, idiot," he laughed at me. His signature "ushishi~" mocked me. I had started thinking that it was a reference to death, since it sounded so much like _shin_. "Go inside, and give me my stuff."

I handed him the bags, thanked him for walking me home and walked inside, having no idea of what exactly I had forgotten.

When I walked inside, and looked back, I saw that Belphegor was gone.

Within seconds, he was gone.

It scared me how fast he could disappear…

"Chrome-chan, did you pick up everything fine?" Nana's voice came from the kitchen, as she busily preheated the oven and took out the supplies to make dinner. "Chrome-chan? Are you alright?" she asked later, when I didn't reply.

My hand smacked my forehead. _How in the world did I forget!?_

What had I told Belphegor? "I can multi-task well?" What a joke, I was. I couldn't even pay attention to more than one errand at a time.

I despaired inwardly. I couldn't even run to the store really quick, because there had been a multitude of ingredients that I'd had to pick up, and I hadn't even gotten one of them! Feeling much like a failure, I bit my lower lip.

Tears were blurring my eyes. Who said I didn't cry? I was a crybaby.

Even back, when I was Nagi, and not Chrome.

And now, I was crying for a lack of groceries. No, I was crying because I had let someone down. Someone who meant a lot to me. How many times had Nana helped me? And I couldn't even run a simple errand for –

The doorbell rang.

Startled, I breathed sharply. When I realized it was only the doorbell that had rung, I relaxed and went to open the door.

There was no one there, though.

"Hello? Is there anyone there?" I called out, waving. When no one answered, I was about to step out to look further, but noticed something at my feet. Someone had left something on the step. Had it been the mailman?

"No," I whispered. "These are grocery bags. Groceries?"

My mind instantly went to Belphegor and his sudden absence. "It couldn't be…he couldn't have…"

I blinked, picked up the bags, and began to open them in the kitchen, closing the front door behind me, one by one.

Once everything was laid out, I cataloged everything in my head.

It was all here. The brussel sprouts, the broccoli, the cabbage, the lettuce, the tomatoes. Everything.

I nearly cried out with joy.

"Belphegor, thank you," I said softly, knowing in my heart, it _him_. _He'd done this_.

Two words made me warm inside, coming from the romantic dwelling within me.

_For me?_

"Thank you so much, Chrome-chan," Nana smiled at me when she saw the fruits of Belphegor's labor. "You're a great help!"

I smiled weakly. "Ah…ah, you're welcome." I wanted to tell her about Belphegor, but…he felt like my secret.

And I wanted to keep him.

I was headed upstairs to wash up though, when Nana called me.

"Dear, did you do this?" came her incredulous voice from next to the fridge.

I ran back downstairs and into the kitchen to see what it was that she was so surprised about. _Don't tell me I counted my eggs before they hatched_.

"What is it?" I questioned, confused. She was gesturing to one of the bags.

"Look inside," she told me.

I walked forward, and opened the bag.

I blinked.

Inside the plastic grocery bag was a small piece of cake carefully frosted with a number – a phone number, to be exact.

I blinked again, and an ear-splitting grin covered my face. A small note stuck out from the edge of the cake and when I took it out to read it, I think my ears actually _did_ split.

It read:

_C, _

_To pay you back. I don't need your money._

_B_

It was hardly romantic. To anyone else, it would have sounded like something that someone very, very full-of-himself would have said. Someone self-righteous? To me at that moment though, it was the most romantic thing that I had ever read.

* Tribute to Percy Jackson's "Hoover Dam" joke~

I don't like typing out swears in my writing. Just a pet peeve of mine, so if you see the word dam, that's not a typo, and if you see the word effing, then once again – my attempt at replacing the original word, ha ha.

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I felt like the little Chrome rant was necessary for the greater good, but I think I more than made up for it, didn't I? This chapter is dedicated to my favorite Fran roleplayer – who sells cookies like a boss. Thanks for being awesome, Fran. Thanks for the people who have already reviewed, too. Love you all!**

**~ Yours, Terry**


	6. Chapter 6: The Worrier, She Worries

**In honor of my favorite Bel admin and her 17****th**** birthday, I'm going to splurge and give five whole chapters, guys! Mind you, they'll be a bit shorter than usual, but that's to make up for the lack of time that I have!**

**~ Yours, Terry**

**6**

**CHROME**

That slip of paper was taunting me.

I had written down that string of numbers – and this slip of paper had them on it. Although, I'd thought about them so much, that I had the phone number basically memorized. It wasn't even funny. I went to school and daydreamed about using it.

I came back from school, and in between homework assignments, I would just stare at it, like a girl with absolutely no life whatsoever.

"Just pick the dam* thing up and call him already!" I hissed to myself one day.

It was a Saturday and I had been sitting there basically just staring at this sheet for hours. First thing I did after I woke up. Was it really Belphegor's phone number, or did I just want to believe that? Had one of the top assassins in the world seriously given me his number last week?

What madness was this?

_People just didn't do that._

I corrected myself: People just didn't do that—_to me_.

That's what was so surprising about all of this. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't see myself in this sort of situation. And yet, here I was.

"Okay," I whispered. "I'm picking up the piece of paper." I picked it up, gingerly, as if it were a bomb that could explode. "I'm taking the phone." My hands picked up my phone. "I am dialing this number." My fingers shakily began to dial. "I will answer the phone."

Something clicked and someone answered.

That someone? Was voicemail.

I frowned and tried dialing again. "Come on, work! I finally found the guts to dial and you won't go through!? Not fair!" To myself, I sounded like a petulant child. It was a voice that I didn't really acquaint myself with. It was a selfish voice, and I seldom let it out.

It made me wonder. Did I have any right to be selfish about Belphegor? Some guy I'd just barely met, and I already knew was bad news – and a terrible influence—and—

It didn't matter. I still wanted to talk to him though.

I didn't understand. Why? Why would I want to, though?

I settled on one completely ridiculous, clichéd reason: Curiosity killed the Chrome.

That's it.

As I despaired about the reasons behind my actions, I was seconds away from disconnecting the phone, and chastising myself for even thinking of doing something so stupid, when a very familiar voice picked up. This time, not voicemail.

The shark of the Varia.

Squalo.

"VOOOOOOOOIIIIIIII! WHO THE HE** IS THIS!?" Came Squalo's voice. I almost laughed, because honestly? He reminded me of an old grandpa. And considering that my family…my family wasn't the happiest one, I'd be glad to have a grandpa like him. Not that I'd ever tell him that, though. Not that I knew him well enough to be able to even think about him like that. I used to have a fetish for hair though, and let me tell you, his definitely woke my old self up.

"C-Chrome. Dokuro? I was wondering about Belphegor!" I hadn't the guts to call him Bel yet.

Except for, y'know, in my head and whatnot.

Squalo grew silent. "He hasn't come out of his room, the lazy idiot. He effing won't effing do his effing job because he doesn't effing want to." Though he threw much profanity in to make his point, I noticed that the volume of his voice had gone down…a lot.

He was trying. And that in itself made my heart warmer.

Honestly, what did the Varia even think of me!? I'd never thought of them as…kind, before, but maybe…Squalo just…

"ANYWAY! VOOIIIIIII! I DON'T HAVE FRIGGING TIME FOR YOU, BRAT!"

And that's where the niceties ended and the man hung up on me.

I let out a breath. Well, I could tell he tried, but they were assassins! I couldn't expect them to be kind like Tsuna or the others, could I? That was ridiculous. Without knowing it though, maybe I'd come to expect something parallel to kindness from Belphegor.

Which was ludicrous on its own.

Belphegor and kind didn't compute, did they? And Gokudera Hayato could vouch for that…but did Gokudera really know Belphegor? Did I? I would be flattering myself if I said I did…but I wanted to know, didn't I? And that was more than I could say for Gokudera.

Squalo's words came back to me, and a sense of foreboding struck.

The prince (albeit, fake, perhaps) wouldn't just…lock himself up, would he? That would be cowardly. And also, he would probably tell them a reason if he did!

And that worry was enough to send me all the way to the Varia's headquarters. Not the Italy one, though. The Japanese one. Because of course, they had to be so high-maintenance that they couldn't just have ONE headquarters, they had to have one for every country!

Within a couple hours, I was there. A wonder what one can do when he/she puts their minds to it.

And if Bel was my sort-of-pseudo-maybe-boyfriend, I had a right to be worried! If he wasn't there, then I wouldn't be embarrassed, but if he was there, then I wouldn't have to worry. If he happened to be fine, then more power to him, but if he wasn't, then I could take care of him! No matter how I looked at it, it was honestly, a win-win situation.

I arrived at the Varia Mansion in a taxi, clad in all black – black shirt, black jeans, and black gloves.

I hoped that I didn't stand out too much.

**THAT IS THE END OF THE FIRST SPLURGE CHAPTER. Thank you for reading. Hope that you enjoyed it. Chrome's guts are going to spill, and next chapter, she is going to yield to some rather **_**guilty**_** pleasures. Read more to find out!**

**~ Yours, Terry**


	7. Chapter 7: Princey Poo

**Second splurging chapter, GO!**

**~ Yours, Terry**

**7**

**Chrome**

When no one opened the door of me after I knocked, I decided to take the other way and hopped nimbly onto the back porch of the Varia's Japanese mansion and scaled the wall like I was born to do it.

Honestly, when I didn't want to do something, everyone could gang up on me and force me to do it, but when I did want to do something, Mukuro-sama, Bossu, they all know—no one in Heaven or hell can stop me.

I was getting into this building, whether the tenants inside liked it or not.

Without knowing it, I had come to care for this man, and now that I was ready to acknowledge it—not to him, heavens no, I would never tell him—but to myself, I didn't want to give anything but my 100%. I never thought of myself as a snarky girl, but if it came down to it, I would snark. I would be sassy. I could challenge people. I'm blunt, I've got attitude; I'm just a little shy, so…not many people get to see it.

But if I like you, then I'll show you.

Maybe that's what I was trying to do as I kicked open the transparent doors that connected to the balcony I'd landed on. Show someone that yeah, I'm Chrome. Nagi. Whatever it is that you want to call me. And I'm not defenseless. I don't need a chaperone to go see my boyfri—

My friend. And how he was doing.

How did I know this was Bel's room? Well, Mukuro-sama told me so. Hey, I didn't want a chaperone, but having connections isn't a bad thing. How did he know this was Bel's room? If you ask me that question, reader, then ah, I'm going to have to respond with—

There are secrets better left unheard.

You'd have nightmares for weeks.

Anyway, so I climbed into his room, opened the doors, didn't know what to expect, but when I actually got down to it, what I did see wasn't all that scary. Bel was asleep. Tossing in his bed, but still…sleeping.

Had he really refused to come out of his room because he was tired?

I found that hard to believe.

And even harder to believe when I glanced at the door leading out of Bel's room into the mansion, and saw that he'd done several things to make sure that it stayed closed. I was sure that if the Varia really needed Bel for this mission, they would have taken him, kicking and screaming, and—

I don't know—using Levi as a battering ram to crash through the duct-taped door. Seriously, I'm not kidding. There were several lines of duct tape that were keeping the door shut, along with a chair shoved underneath the knob…

…and a dresser.

The thing was though, the Varia hadn't done that. No battering ram, no shooting holes in the wall, no giant laser, none of it. They just left him. And seeing as no one had come running in yelling, "Intruder! Intruder!" when I came in, I figured that no one was actually home. The Varia in entirety had probably left for a mission, or several missions, and left Bel behind for the day.

"Why, though?" I asked myself, walking over to the edge of Bel's bed, and sitting on it. Wrenching my combat boots off (I'd worn them for the extra friction), I sat with my socks on, pondering this question.

If Belphegor had really wanted to go, he would have left.

If he really didn't want anyone to see him, he would have left the curtains closed.

But he had done neither, and judging from the fingerprints on the windows next to Bel's bed, er…rather, face prints? I could see a nose, cheeks. Had someone drawn on his window? Well, anyway, judging from it…the Varia had seen Bel, checked up on him, and still left.

"Why?" I asked out loud, again, falling back.

I had momentarily forgotten that there was another person here, and ended up sleeping on the part of the bed where Bel's calves would have been. That's when I felt it.

It was really hot.

Not in the room, the room had air conditioning. Probably very expensive air-conditioning, but his legs were really hot. I could feel it through the freaking blanket! It was strange. He'd put on the air conditioning to the maximum, but then huddled under a bunch of silk sheets? That'd only make him cooler!

It didn't make any sense!

And that's when I realized it.

"Idiot!" I smacked myself across the forehead. "Of course! Stupid Bel has a fever!" See, I never would have said that out loud if I thought anyone else in the room was conscious. Calling Belphegor Bel? That was only for the five corners of my silent mind, since…it would never repeat it! And calling him stupid? Definitely for only in my head. I'd never have the guts to say it out loud!

Even though I want to be strong, that's not the kind of strong I mean! The ability to call the boy you _possibly maybe might _really have a crush on _stupid_.

This revelation befuddled me, though.

He had a fever.

Touching his forehead, I flinched when my finger sizzled from the heat. He was an assassin, after all. Reaching temperatures the normal human couldn't. "Bel, you idiot." I cursed, as I rushed into the attached bathroom, soaked up one of the clean towels, and began the painstaking process of wrapping his arms, neck, and calves in the wet material.

(I have to admit, when I ran into his bathroom, I was worried at first, but…I was really thinking about how his bathroom was so neat! It makes me feel like a terrible person, but there wasn't a spot of mildew on the tiles, in the shower, nothing! I wondered if he cleaned it himself, and then mentally hit myself because…Belphegor? The Bloody Prince? Cleaning his own bathroom? Ridiculous.)

Realizing that I'd run out of towels for his face, I cut the duct tape using one of his Gillette razors (completely unused by the way, brand new) and removed the chair (not necessarily in that order), dashing out of the room.

Where was the kitchen?

Finding the living room at the bottom of the grand staircase, I saw a small envelope.

Curious, I picked it up, promising myself that no, I wasn't opening anyone's mail illegally. If anyone asked though, _dude, I'm a part of the Mafia, shut up_. Plus, it had the words FOR BEL written in nice loop-de-loop cursive on the cover, so I had to read it.

What if it was a letter from the Varia to Bel? Telling him where they were going?

There were only a few words on it, though.

_**LEFT FOR WORK. LOVE YOU, PRINCEY-POO.**_

From the words and writing, I figured that it was Lussuria, the Varia's Sun Guardian who'd wrote it, or Mama Luss as some people referred to him as. The rambunctious peacock of the Varia. Assassin, but…he was definitely the loudest of them, clothing-wise. Someone who made an impression.

I stifled a laugh as I read over the last word. What a nice family the Varia was.

Y'know, if you overlooked the fact that their bonding time was spent killing people.

Anyway, so now I knew for sure that the rest of the Varia was gone. That's when I realized how eerie the house looked without any lights on, besides in Bel's room, because it was the only room with a window and an open door! I could imagine getting killed in the living room of this place. It scared me. The darkness. I'd gotten so accustomed to Kyoko's and Tsuna's fun and lively houses, that this scared me.

Hurryingly checking through the rest of the rooms, until I found the kitchen, I turned on all the lights I could find. This would up the Varia's electricity bill considering that there were so many lights, but…

They could afford it.

In the kitchen, I grabbed some paper towels, wet them, and hurried back to Bel's room upstairs. Now came the rather intriguing problem of the eyes.

I didn't want to cover his hair. I wanted to cover his forehead. When I checked his temperature again, I realized that he hadn't gotten at all better. Time to bust out the ice cubes, I thought. But after I get this wet cloth on his hairy head.

I decided to clip his hair back. After all, his eyes were closed. It only made sense to clip his hair back and then put the wet cloth on.

Exploring all the drawers in his bathroom, looking for some clips, I found…boxers, underwear, toilet paper…

And after each thing that I found that wasn't the clip I was looking for, I pretended not to notice my mistake and moved on. Did he not own any cli—

That's when I found them.

They were _hidden_.

Underneath one of the shampoo bottles in the shower. I tried imagining him putting on the clip, and decided that Bel would look something like Rin Okumura with _his_ clips on. I imagined him pacing the floor of his room, eyes revealed—

Studying? Maybe when he was younger?

"How cute," I stifled a squeal as I spoke out loud. That vision of Bel was adorable. A studious Bel, becoming the genius he is today. Absolutely adorable.

Taking the clips I found, I went back over to Bel, climbed his bed, leaned over him, and carefully, clipped his hair back, twitching a bit when the back of my hand brushed his closed eyelids. He wasn't tossing anymore thankfully.

As I set the wet cloth onto his smooth forehead, I noticed the carpet.

It looked incredibly fluffy.

And now that I'd covered my boy in cold cloths, I had to get some ice cubes, and then…I had time to kill while looking after him.

I had a slight feeling I knew what it was that I was going to be doing in that time.

Rushing downstairs, and hauling a bunch of ice upstairs, I dumped the stuff mercilessly on top of the assassin. He could handle it. "The idiot. Getting himself sick and then letting no one take care of him. Idiot, idiot!"

Which basically meant that I had worried a whole lot.

And it was his fault.

So it felt…right, on a moral level, but wrong because it made no sense!

After the ice was placed on him, I took off my socks. Guilty pleasure, here I come, I thought, as I felt the carpet with my feet. It was so fluffy! On one hand, I wasn't really neglecting Bel, was I? I was just…having some fun on his fluffy royal blue carpet.

Falling into it, felt like falling into a pile of feathers and it was ridiculous. I wondered how his bed would feel. I'd sat on it earlier, but not really felt it, felt it. If his floor was this comfy, then how much—

No. I wouldn't go there.

But I did.

And I climbed into his bed. It was a huge bed, so no worries. I was a good half foot away from him. But his bed. IT WAS SO FLUFFY—

I began to roll around on it.

Guilty pleasure.

If the floor felt like feathers, this bed felt even softer.

And consequentially, I fell asleep.

**OH Chrome. How innocent you are. So there, guys. Guilty pleasure, check. You never would have thought for Chrome to be so childish, but…she is. It's one of the reasons why I love her. She doesn't stop there at the impulsive desires though, so keep reading to find out what the ultimate one is.**

**~ Yours, Terry**


	8. Chapter 8: His Lashes

**I lied about that intense yielding to pleasure thing, guys. xD. Chrome wouldn't do that.**

**~ Yours, Terry**

**Chapter 8**

When she awoke, his fever was much better. Which was great. He still wasn't awake though. Which was even better. Because who knew what Belphegor might do to a girl laying at the foot of his bed? Probably kill her.

Chrome blinked. There was just something about him right now, through her bleary eyes, that seemed inadvertently attractive.

And then she realized.

"If he was awake, I'd see his eyes," the young mist illusionist whispered to herself, awed. When she had clipped his hair back, she hadn't had any thought of seeing his eyes. She didn't want to, if he didn't want her to. And even now, she didn't want to. Just…just seeing his eyelids though is alluring right now, Chrome thought, and then laughed.

Alluring eyelids.

In her best British accent (speaking English, of course), Chrome asked the sleeping beauty, "What alluring eyelids you have, my Lord." He stirred slightly but didn't wake up. Realizing that she had to change his wet cloths again (well, now they were dry…), she stood up and collected the old ones. Throwing them away, she bounded to the kitchen downstairs, to get more paper towels.

Running back upstairs, she wetted them with fresh water and placed them back where they were supposed to be. Realizing that perhaps she should have him drink some water, too, she went back downstairs and returned with a glass of water. Pinching his nose, Chrome slowly filled his mouth with water, and he drank obligingly.

She'd taken care of Ken once like this, so she knew how. Iburprofen, food, rest, and temperature control. The four keys to success in fighting a fever. Chrome had had to memorize them that one time.

Chrome's eyes strayed around the room, noticing the state of the room. She hadn't seen it before, but it was kind of messy.

And what does she do, but take it upon herself to clean.

Humming, too, as she worked.

Kind of like Snow White in the seven dwarves' house.

After she was done putting clothes back in the grand wardrobe, wiping the spilled nail polish off the mahogany dresser, organizing Bel's shirts in rainbow order (oh, I'm sure he'll love that, Chrome), setting up all of Bel's various hair care products in a vaguely appealing-to-the-eye way, and gathering all the items from underneath his bed and putting them in the places she thought they were originally in, Chrome finally relaxed.

And her eyes wandered back to Bel, and his face.

This time, his eyelashes.

"What long lashes you have, my Lord," Chrome laughed softly at herself, for being so distracted by something so trivial. Of course with Bel, one couldn't even see that, could they? His lashes, his eyelids. His forehead. He had nice ears, too.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, she leaned over his face, and stared in complete concentration at his brow, as if she could will herself to remember what she was seeing forever. Without even knowing it, Chrome had begun to move closer.

And then his eyes stirred under his eyelids.

Afraid that he might open them, that he was waking, Chrome shut her eyes tight. If she saw his eyes, no guessing what he might do to her.

"Chrome…" Belphegor's voice, came. "I can see you." He sounded confused. And then, his voice darkened, "I see you." As if he wasn't sick at all, he grasped her shoulders and the world moved jaggedly around her as Chrome was thrown across the room, much like a rag doll. Hitting the wall with a thud, her body slumped over.

"What have you done?" The assassin she'd been taking care of demanded. Three obscenely sharp knives later just barely missing her head later, he yelled, "Get out."

With her eyes still closed, Chrome turned to where she knew the door was, opened her eyes, and walked out.

Belphegor thought that she had seen his eyes.

And she didn't want to stay behind to see what would happen to him afterwards.

A small part of her hoped that he would realize that he was wrong.

Θ

As Belphegor of the Varia stood, along in his room, something fell off of him. Some things, actually. Several wet cloths. Shaking his head, he looked around, and as he did, he found the strange clarity that he saw his room with strange, and so he unclipped his hair and chucked the clips across the room. They embedded themselves in his wall. How had she even found those?! Fuming, he paced the length of his room several times before beginning to throw knives at a dart board.

Now, he noticed that his room was much neater than before. Much, much neater. Not that a newcomer would notice it wasn't clean, though. He usually kept it in pristine condition. Or at least some version of a pristine-looking condition.

The space underneath his bed was clean. There wasn't anything there.

And slowly, Belphegor's memories returned, of what happened before he fell asleep.

He felt his forehead. Where was his fever?

The answer hit him. The reason that Chrome's eyes had been shut appeared before him, and even with all that hair in front of him, he could still see it.

"Dam* it all…"

The assassin had realized his mistake.

Θ

Chrome was on her way home, but home was far away from the Varia headquarters. Very, very far away. Her head felt light-headed, and her back was plastered with sweat. Everything felt hot and cold at the same time, and she shivered from the heat. What was wrong with her?

And then, she fell.

And the ground came up to meet her.

Her vision blurred, and she let her consciousness disappear.

Hours later, a man with hair like indigo, and a presence like black licorice, walked up to the fallen girl. He frowned, and glanced up and down the road before picking the girl up. "Kufufufu~," he laughed darkly. The only people he knew who lived around here were the Varia, and though he didn't know the reason for them wanting to pick a fight with him, Rokudo Mukuro did not care.

Those fools had hurt his pet.

"Punishment will be dealt accordingly," he muttered to himself, before resolving to take the girl home to the young Vongola's house. (It was the closest. Though at this point, closeness was a matter of opinion.)

**We-e-ell, Bel, you'd better prepare, because Muku's gonna come kick your arse.**

**Stay tuned for that next update.**

**~ Yours, Terry**


End file.
